Simple country elegance with a light and lovely loaf of homemade wheat bread prepared in the bread machine. Your task time is only about 3 minutes flat, I swear! Or spend just 10 minutes to prepare it by hand. Either way, it’s simple and fun. And the return on your time investment will be well worth the effort.

Bread machine bread (or hand-kneaded dough) starts with simple pantry ingredients that can be gathered and deposited into the bread machine within 3 minutes flat.

Set the machine to “Bread” or “Bread Rapid” (or other baked bread setting) and select a crust color (I like a “Light” crust for this bread) and you’re locked and loaded for the heavenly aroma of fresh bread. The time varies from machine to machine for a finished baked loaf of bread, but it often takes about about an hour-and-a-half for the machine to heat up the mixture, knead it and bake it.

If you don’t have a bread machine, no worries. Just mix this same list of ingredients with a wooden spoon or dough fork (adding a little flour at a time if needed until it is no longer sticky to the touch). Then knead the dough on the counter by hand for about 7 to 8 minutes, shape it into a ball and let it rise for one hour in a warm place covered with a towel. Remove the dough ball and shape it into an oblong bread loaf for a second towel-covered one-hour rise in a bread pan and bake it in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes.

I suggest removing the bread immediately from the bread machine (or bread pan) when the loaf is hot from the bread machine (or oven) and cool it on the counter uncovered for about 20 minutes before packaging it in a parchment wrap or in a paper bag. Closing it up in a plastic wrap or in a plastic container when there is any trace of steam might cause the bread to become soggy. If your fresh loaf of bread is not devoured within a day, you can transfer it to a plastic container or plastic wrap it and keep it on the counter for a few days (or longer in the refrigerator).

Living in the city, as I do, oftentimes reminds me of just how much I cherish a country setting. But making up a nice loaf of bread to share with friends and family can take me back down that country road in a flash. Here’s to the simple craft of making homemade bread!

Yellow flowers growing on the pergola at the river house.

Thank you for joining me for this vintage baking adventure. We’ll explore lots of variations on this theme for a country loaf of bread with more tips and tricks along the way. I hope you’re following us on Bake This Cake! for homemade vintage cake recipes and also on our Instagram and Pinterest for photo inspiration.